Home owners 'spending an average of £11,000 on moving house'

In London, home movers can expect to pay £4,732 more than a year ago

Home owners' moving costs have increased by around £870 over the past year to reach nearly £11,000 on average, a report has found.

Rising house prices have driven the increase, pushing up estate agency, stamp duty and conveyancing fees, Lloyds Bank said, taking the typical cost of moving home to £10,996.

In London, home movers can expect to pay £4,732 more than a year ago, with the average cost of moving there now standing at £31,416.

The particularly sharp rise in moving costs in London is mostly due to London house prices having increased by 14.5% over the last year, compared with an increase of 8.5% across the UK generally.

The average home mover in London pays more than £15,000 in stamp duty and £11,000 in estate agency fees, the report found.

Mike Songer, mortgage director at Lloyds Bank, said: "The cost of stepping up the housing ladder has continued to rise sharply over the past year.

"As a result, the cost of completing a home move in the UK has grown significantly over the past decade, to nearly £11,000.

"This trend is especially marked for buyers in London and the South East with the combination of both higher property prices and more rapid increase in prices in recent years resulting in significantly higher moving costs in these parts of the country."

The 9% increase in moving costs over the last year across the country is significantly higher than the rise in living costs generally, with a 0.6% Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate of inflation recorded in August.

Moving costs have also increased faster than earnings over the last decade, by 25% versus a 17% increase in full-time earnings, Lloyds said.

As a result, moving house now eats a bigger chunk out of people's earnings than it did 10 years ago.

The total cost of moving has increased from 30% to 32% as a percentage of gross annual earnings.

In London the average cost of moving has increased by 68%, or £12,680, over the past decade.

Moving costs in London now take up nearly three-quarters (72%) of annual earnings on average.

But with house prices varying widely across the UK, in some places the cost of moving has fallen over the past 10 years.

Moving cost in Northern Ireland, where house prices fell sharply after the economic downturn, have fallen by £1,957 or 27% over the past 10 years and now stand at £5,401 on average. Northern Ireland was found to have the cheapest moving costs across the UK.

The cost of moving home in the North East of England and Wales is also now slightly lower than it was 10 years ago, down by £111 and £154 respectively.

Moving costs in Wales are now £6 cheaper on average than they were a year ago. In Scotland, the cost of moving home has edged up by £125, or 2%, over the past year.

Here is how the cost of moving home across the UK adds up on average, according to Lloyds Bank, followed by the percentage and cash increase in these costs over the last year (figures have been rounded):

- Stamp duty, £2,504, 17%, £372

- Estate agency fees, £5,404, 8%, £402

- Surveyors' fees, £665, 0%, £0

- Home removal, £1,111, 0%, £0

- Conveyancing, £1,251, 8%, £93

- Energy performance certificate, £60, 0%, £0

Here is how the cost of moving varies across the UK, with the average cost now according to Lloyds Bank, followed by the change over the last year in percentage and cash terms and the change over the last 10 years in percentage and cash terms:

- South East, £20,210, 20%, £3,382, 27%, £4,329

- London, £31,416, 18%, £4,732, 68%, £12,680

- Yorkshire and the Humber, £7,730, 11%, £795, 8%, £582

- East Anglia, £10,973, 10%, £999, 30%, £2,558

- North East, £7,133, 9%, £604, minus 2%, minus £111

- Northern Ireland, £5,401, 6%, £328, minus 27%, minus £1,957

- South West, £11,098, 5%, £552, 20%, £1,823

- West Midlands, £9,814, 4%, £412, 15%, £1,314

- East Midlands, £8,389, 4%, £284, 7%, £565

- Scotland, £6,947, 2%, £125, 7%, £431

- North West, £7,459, 1%, £69, 1%, £95

- Wales, £7,563, 0%, minus £6, minus 2%, minus £154

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